Hey, I'm Sunny, I talked Phillip into letting me post on his blog so here's my first attempt!Last year was the first time I had moved away to go to school (I had spent 2 years at our local community college before that). I put about 500 miles between myself and everything I've ever known, it was most definitely a learning experience! There are definitely some perks to going to a traditional 4-year school and living on campus. Here are some tips that I've learned:
Buy a meal plan!
Many schools (including mine) require students to buy a meal plan, at first I thought it was completely ridiculous that they forced us to spend $1500/semester (that's for 14 meals/week) on icky cafeteria food. Then I realized I was actually saving money, if I had my own kitchen I would have to furnish all of my cooking hardware and food. Plus I'd have to wash my own dishes, and possibly argue with my roomies about who's turn it is to clean up the fuzzy stuff growing in the fridge. With the meal plan you're limited to what the cafeteria offers, some of the stuff is a little sketchy (especially on the weekends when most people go home so they just give us whatever is left over) but you always have the option of getting cereal or toast! It also cut down on my fast-food consumption considerably, I probably went out to eat less than 20 times the entire school year. Some downsides are: limitations on variety, only having set hours of operation (we have another food place on campus which is open until 11pm most nights)
Get a work study job!
Work study jobs are offered on most campuses and they're funded either through the school or through the government. It is usually based on financial need, I work in an office on campus for about 10 hours a week, and make minimum wage. I know it doesn't sound like a lot and I was very skeptical at first that it was even going to be worth it, but since the job is located on campus if you have long breaks between classes you can fit it right there, the managers are generally very flexible with hours since they know school is your first priority. The downsides are you have a certain amount you can earn and if you work too many hours and run out of funds then you're out of luck. You also only get paid once a month so if you have lots of bills this may not be a good option for you, but it's a great way to earn some extra cash for trips home or unexpected expenses.
If you move far away from home, get a checking account!!
At home I bank with a local company, if you move out of their area it's kind of a pain to cash checks, or deposit checks (sending them home to mom didn't work very well since my banks was out of the way for her to deposit them so I'd have to wait awhile to have access to the moneys). Most free checking accounts only require a $100 opening deposit so I'm going to save my last check from my summer job and just deposit it into a new account. This will also separate the money I've previously earned and school loan money, and the stuff I'll be earning while I'm at school. Plus one of our local banks has an ATM on campus so no more fees for using it and not being a member there! (Those $3 fees can add up)
If you're sharing a bathroom/kitchen make a cleaning schedule!!
Last year I shared a bathroom with 3 other females. We had no kitchen so the bathroom kind of doubled as one (icky right?). One roommate didn't really ever clean up after herself so we made a cleaning schedule, we rotated each week and wrote our names down along with the date it was cleaned (with 4 girls they get gross pretty quickly) that way we knew it got cleaned at least once a week. We also rotated on who purchased the toilet paper. It seems really juvenile but it was the only way we could do this without bickering so I fully recommend it.
Splurge sometimes!
I learned that 1 12oz bottle of shampoo/conditioner will last me about 3 months if I wash my hair every other day. So why not go ahead and get something you like instead of trying to save money with the cheap stuff that no one really likes anyway. Same goes for laundry detergent. I bought the cheapest stuff I could find and it was so thin/watered down that I ended up using more than if I would have bought the more expensive stuff. Plus if you buy a really big bottle because it's on sale, be prepared to carry it up 4 flights of stairs when the elevator breaks while you're loading the washer :)
Rent a storage unit for the summer!
One of my friends also lives out of state and we didn't want to lug everything back home so we went in half on a storage unit and it was well worth it. It was only $25/month plus a $20 deposit. We ended up spending about $75/each to store our things for the summer and it saved the hassle of trying to load everything up and haul it 500 miles! (Plus with my tiny car it would have been a tight squeeze!
Buy a meal plan!
Many schools (including mine) require students to buy a meal plan, at first I thought it was completely ridiculous that they forced us to spend $1500/semester (that's for 14 meals/week) on icky cafeteria food. Then I realized I was actually saving money, if I had my own kitchen I would have to furnish all of my cooking hardware and food. Plus I'd have to wash my own dishes, and possibly argue with my roomies about who's turn it is to clean up the fuzzy stuff growing in the fridge. With the meal plan you're limited to what the cafeteria offers, some of the stuff is a little sketchy (especially on the weekends when most people go home so they just give us whatever is left over) but you always have the option of getting cereal or toast! It also cut down on my fast-food consumption considerably, I probably went out to eat less than 20 times the entire school year. Some downsides are: limitations on variety, only having set hours of operation (we have another food place on campus which is open until 11pm most nights)
Get a work study job!
Work study jobs are offered on most campuses and they're funded either through the school or through the government. It is usually based on financial need, I work in an office on campus for about 10 hours a week, and make minimum wage. I know it doesn't sound like a lot and I was very skeptical at first that it was even going to be worth it, but since the job is located on campus if you have long breaks between classes you can fit it right there, the managers are generally very flexible with hours since they know school is your first priority. The downsides are you have a certain amount you can earn and if you work too many hours and run out of funds then you're out of luck. You also only get paid once a month so if you have lots of bills this may not be a good option for you, but it's a great way to earn some extra cash for trips home or unexpected expenses.
If you move far away from home, get a checking account!!
At home I bank with a local company, if you move out of their area it's kind of a pain to cash checks, or deposit checks (sending them home to mom didn't work very well since my banks was out of the way for her to deposit them so I'd have to wait awhile to have access to the moneys). Most free checking accounts only require a $100 opening deposit so I'm going to save my last check from my summer job and just deposit it into a new account. This will also separate the money I've previously earned and school loan money, and the stuff I'll be earning while I'm at school. Plus one of our local banks has an ATM on campus so no more fees for using it and not being a member there! (Those $3 fees can add up)
If you're sharing a bathroom/kitchen make a cleaning schedule!!
Last year I shared a bathroom with 3 other females. We had no kitchen so the bathroom kind of doubled as one (icky right?). One roommate didn't really ever clean up after herself so we made a cleaning schedule, we rotated each week and wrote our names down along with the date it was cleaned (with 4 girls they get gross pretty quickly) that way we knew it got cleaned at least once a week. We also rotated on who purchased the toilet paper. It seems really juvenile but it was the only way we could do this without bickering so I fully recommend it.
Splurge sometimes!
I learned that 1 12oz bottle of shampoo/conditioner will last me about 3 months if I wash my hair every other day. So why not go ahead and get something you like instead of trying to save money with the cheap stuff that no one really likes anyway. Same goes for laundry detergent. I bought the cheapest stuff I could find and it was so thin/watered down that I ended up using more than if I would have bought the more expensive stuff. Plus if you buy a really big bottle because it's on sale, be prepared to carry it up 4 flights of stairs when the elevator breaks while you're loading the washer :)
Rent a storage unit for the summer!
One of my friends also lives out of state and we didn't want to lug everything back home so we went in half on a storage unit and it was well worth it. It was only $25/month plus a $20 deposit. We ended up spending about $75/each to store our things for the summer and it saved the hassle of trying to load everything up and haul it 500 miles! (Plus with my tiny car it would have been a tight squeeze!
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1 comment:
"Splurge Sometimes"
Great idea! I've found that for people who have a hard time budgeting, learning when it's appropriate to splurge is great motivation to keep going the rest of the time. Do remember though that small ticket items can still add up. Reward your creative stinginess with a brandname once in a great while.
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